to have Courage....In Family Life, In Spirituality, In Health, In Living Simply

I'm on a journey...... as we all are. Learning, remembering, re-discovering about health, spirituality, relationships, emotions and the mind.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Willpower vs Empowerment

 In "High Raw" Kevin Gianni writes:

"Willpower is defined as self-control or controlling one’s actions or
impulses. It is what we are told we need to have in order to change our
habits. Stephen Covey describes habits as having a “strong gravitational
pull” in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. So if you think about
it, when you apply willpower to change habits, it is a constant battle of
the gravitational pull of that habit against your own forces of self-control.
Imagine what it feels like to be in a constant battle. You may do well at
first, constantly pushing and pushing, but eventually, willpower crumbles.
And when it does, you might simply go back to your old habit, feeling
that it’s the more powerful force. Humans both desire and resist change.
While change may be desired, resistance to change is almost an
instinctual way to protect ourselves. Resistance to change is a common reaction because humans tend to want things to remain in homeostasis or balance, which can often translate into  wanting things to stay the same. In fact, resistance to change is so strong that the fields of change management and organizational development were created to help organizations reach big goals by helping employees adapt to change.

So how can you change successfully so that you can reach your health and wellness goals? Instead of focusing on the battle of willpower, imagine what it would be like to feel empowered? To be empowered means that you are equipped with ability or enabled. Think for a moment about the difference between imposing self-control to do something vs. feeling equipped and enabled to do something?"

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